I first encountered foiling while living in Oahu back in 2015. As a beginner/novice not really convinced at that moment, but now the foil-crazyness calls me. I'm not really into racing, but like the idea of foiling in the lightest of winds and would love to play in the waves as Greg Drexler does! I have been thinking about the Takuma for a while, but have seen some riders like Evan Netsch and Jesse Richman going out on surffoils lately (and being really positive about it). Would a surffoil be suited to a beginner rider? Gong has a great deal now on a aluminum surffoil with fibreglass fins, which is even lower priced than many of the Chinese foils

IMO yes but no. The lift comes on early and strong, as with a kite they pretty much foil the instant the board is moving. Which can make getting up onto it and controlling it tricky after the water start, but they cruise at slower speed and are more stable.

With smaller wings, you need more board speed to transition to foiling, and that gives you time to adapt to the different board feeling and trim...